South African president in hot water over Cecil the Lion 'incident' remark

August 12, 2015
by Sam Burne James

Jacob Zuma, the president of South Africa, has drawn anger with comments about last month's now notorious shooting of Cecil the Lion in neighbouring Zimbabwe - although some have questioned why this story is getting so much attention.

Now, the South African president has partially reignited the media storm. Zuma has been reported across various media as having 'laughed off' the incident, referring to it as "just an incident", saying: "I don’t think it’s a matter we can debate that much." He also said: "What it sounds like from a distance [is] that the hunter did not know that Cecil was so popular, just saw a lion."

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe itself, Robert Mugabe has not been taking the issue so lightly, while UK environment minister Rory Stewart has also weighed into the debate, telling The Daily Telegraph it was "important for people to understand" why hunting was allowed in many African countries.